Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung – Oriental splendour

Authentic Taiwanese restaurant, Din Tai Fung has just opened its UK flagship at Covent Garden, London.

The international restaurant chain takes prime position in London’s theatre and entertainment hub at 5-6 Henrietta Street, next to the area’s popular West Piazza.

Din Tai Fung’s London flagship restaurant seats close to 250 guests and is a welcome addition to the West End as the Taiwanese brand expands into Europe.

The arrival of Din Tai Fung to Europe, is celebrated with a natural, beautiful and unpretentiously elegant interior design.

Main contractors for the fit out were WFC.

The architectural East meets West style has been created for the first time specifically for Din Tai Fung’s Covent Garden flagship site by renowned Taiwanese architect Mr Song Yih of Song Designs Studio, the principle designer behind Din Tai Fung’s most iconic sites in Taiwan, Singapore, Dubai and Thailand.

The new look and feel of the interiors departs from Din Tai Fung’s classic Chinese style displayed across Asia. Instead it represents the symbolic meeting of the two cultures, creating a sanctuary for modern and traditional Taiwanese architectural beauty.

Spanning across two spacious levels and fitted with original Oriental pieces such as meticulously refurbished handcrafted Chinese wood carvings salvaged from old buildings across China, as well as beautifully carved stone lions which are symbolic of good fortune.

Different areas of the walls display various shapes of grey brick tiles, creating gorgeous and distinctive visual textures.

These features are complemented with traditional oriental materials such as grey tiles, hard wood and rattan. The Oriental features work as a subtle juxtaposition to the nearly minimalist Occidental inspired setting. The effect is a seamless, beautiful amalgamation of two cultures, a worthy celebration of Din Tai Fung coming to the West.

Din Tai Fung’s authentic Taiwanese interior design is the perfect setting for showcasing a collection of paintings by acclaimed Singaporean painter Tan Oe Pang, one of Asia’s most celebrated and talented contemporary artists. The pieces have been created specifically for the Covent Garden site in his unique style.

Not compromising on its true Taiwanese flavours, the menu will offer the signature Din Tai Fung dishes, including its world-famous Xiao Long Bao (Steamed Pork Dumplings) made with pork filling wrapped in a delicate dough skin, which is then pleated, twisted at the top and steamed.

Comprising a minimum of 18 exquisite folds, each Xiao Long Bao is created with surgical precision.

Xiao Long Bao pass through six different stations, each manned by a different team of ‘Dian Xin’ dim sum chefs, before being served up steaming hot.

Each Dian Xin chef is meticulously trained in each station for up to six months and put through a stringent test before they can learn the techniques at the next station. The exquisite dumplings each undergo a 40-minute process of hand preparation before being served fresh to customers.

Din Tai Fung has 154 restaurants worldwide and is also set to open its second UK location in London’s Centre Point in 2019.

Noble Russell

Noble Russell is a furniture consultant company specialising in the manufacture and design of exceptional bespoke British made products. For over 25 years, Noble Russell has been dedicated to furniture design and production.

The company has worked extensively across London and the UK on some highly influential and successful eateries and leisure projects. Recently, Noble Russell produced banquette seating for Din Tai Fung’s flagship UK restaurant in Covent Garden.

Laurence Noble, Director, said:

“Working with WFC, who are the main contractors for this project, has been a successful partnership and it has been a pleasure to work with them. We were asked to produce all of the banquette seating for the restaurant which features both upstairs and downstairs and develop the dining chair upholstery in line with UK legal technical regulations in a tight time frame.

“With the client’s origins and connections with the Far East, it was logical, if not unusual, for a lot of the interior to be supplied as a pre-approved kit from China consisting of wall panelling and plinths for the main fitting. We created the internal structures for the banquette to carry the upholstery along with the upholstery for the 150 dining chairs to closely fit with the other elements.”

He added:

“We have been really excited to be involved on this project not only with working with WFC but to help with the first UK site for Din Tai Fung, and their long-awaited Covent Garden Flagship restaurant.”

Noble Russell prides itself on providing customers with the highest quality product and service. More information on Noble Russell can be found at www.noblerussell.co.uk.